经济学人精读 | 非洲在新一轮争夺中的机遇（1）

导读：

这是一片苦难的土地！

干旱灼烧着它的肌肤，

战火摧残着它的容颜，

饥饿啃食着它的骨头。

罪恶的人，在这片土地肆意掠夺，

逃难的人，在这片土地痛苦绝望。

非洲，世界第二大洲，是世界古人类和古文明的发源地之一，同时也是人口第二大洲（约12亿）。提及非洲，我们首先想到的却是贫穷、落后、战乱与疾病。由于长期种族冲突、热带疾病丛生、工业化引发的环境破坏，西方的殖民，独立后的腐败政权，使非洲成为发展中国家最集中的大陆，世界经济发展水平最低的一个洲，全非洲一年的贸易总额仅占全世界的百分之一。随着全球化的发展，非洲也越来越多地融入到全球经济中，非洲的人口红利与经济增长潜力也受到了发达国家的关注，在新的一轮非洲争夺战中，表现出了哪些与以往不同的特征呢？为什么说这可能是非洲面临的大机遇呢？

本文选自2019年3月7日《经济学人》Leaders栏目，文章标题是“The new scramble for Africa. This time, the winners could be Africans themselves”.Leaders是《经济学人》比较经典的栏目，这个栏目的文章会针对某一个主题进行深入的分析，经常有其独到的洞见。我们一起欣赏一下这篇逻辑严谨的Leaders社论文章。

外刊原文

The first great surge of foreign interest in Africa, dubbed the “scramble(争夺)”, was when 19th-century European colonists carved up the continent and seized Africans’ land. The second was during the cold war, when East and West vied for the allegiance of newly independent African states; the Soviet Union backed Marxist tyrants while America propped up despots who claimed to believe in capitalism. A third surge, now under way, is more benign. Outsiders have noticed that the continent is important and becoming more so, not least because of its growing share of the global population (by 2025 the UN predicts that there will be more Africans than Chinese people). Governments and businesses from all around the world are rushing to strengthen diplomatic, strategic and commercial ties. This creates vast opportunities. If Africa handles the new scramble wisely, the main winners will be Africans themselves.

The extent of foreign engagement is unprecedented. Start with diplomacy. From 2010 to 2016 more than 320 embassies were opened in Africa, probably the biggest embassy-building boom anywhere, ever. Turkey alone opened 26. Last year India announced it would open 18. Military ties are deepening, too. America and France are lending muscle and technology to the struggle against jihadism(圣战运动) in the Sahel. China is now the biggest arms seller to sub-Saharan Africa and has defence-technology ties with 45 countries. Russia has signed 19 military deals with African states since 2014. Oil-rich Arab states are building bases on the Horn of Africa and hiring African mercenaries(雇佣兵).

Commercial ties are being upended. As recently as 2006 Africa’s three biggest trading partners were America, China and France, in that order. By 2018 it was China first, India second and America third (France was seventh). Over the same period Africa’s trade has more than trebled with Turkey and Indonesia, and more than quadrupled with Russia. Trade with the European Union has grown by a more modest 41%. The biggest sources of foreign direct investment are still firms from America, Britain and France, but Chinese ones, including state-backed outfits, are catching up, and investors from India and Singapore are eager to join the fray.

精读讲解

The first great surge of foreign interest in Africa, dubbed the “scramble”, was when 19th-century European colonists carved up the continent and seized Africans’ land. The second was during the cold war, when East and West vied for the allegiance of newly independent African states; the Soviet Union backed Marxist tyrants while America propped up despots who claimed to believe in capitalism. A third surge, now under way, is more benign.

中译：（历史上）非洲第一次引起外国的强烈兴趣，被称之为“争夺”的，是在19世纪，那时欧洲殖民者瓜分了非洲大陆，掠夺了非洲人的土地。第二次是在冷战期间，当时东西方争夺新独立的非洲国家的效忠；苏联支持马克思主义暴君，而美国支持自称信奉资本主义的独裁者。目前正在进行的第三波争夺浪潮，则温和得多。

本文的标题是“The new scramble for Africa”，讲的主题是在非洲的“新的”争夺，何为“新”，作者在第一段的前半部分回顾了非洲历史上的两次“旧”的争夺浪潮，运用的是对比的方法。

surge /sɝdʒ/ n. 汹涌；波涛；激增 v. 汹涌；波涛；激增

【写作积累】surge这个单词是一个四六级、考研的大纲词汇，可能很多朋友都知道这个单词的意思，但在写作中却不一定能熟练运用这个单词。surge来自于拉丁语“surgere”，本义是“上升，升起”，引申词义“涌动，浪涌”，比喻义“激增，飞涨”。在表达“增长”的时候，我们除了使用“increase”、“rise”等这些常见词汇外，在特定场合下不妨使用一下“surge”这个单词。

例句：

①Oil was the main cause of the price surge. 石油是物价上涨的主要原因。

②As China’s economy surges, China's voice in the world is becoming bigger and bigger. 随着中国经济的发展，中国在世界上的话语权也越来越大。

dubbed v. 授予…称号；被称为 （dub的过去分词）

scramble /'skræmbl/ n. 抢夺，争夺

colonist /'kɑlənɪst/ n. 殖民者 (colony：殖民地)

carve up v. 瓜分；划分

seize /siz/ v. 抓住；夺取；抢占

vie for 争夺；竞争 vie /vaɪ/ vi. 争；竞争

allegiance /ə'lidʒəns/ n. 效忠，忠诚；忠贞

tyrant /'taɪrənt/ n. 暴君

prop up v. 支撑；支持

despot /'dɛspɑt/ n. 专制君主，暴君；独裁者

benign /bɪ'naɪn/ adj. 良性的；温和的

Outsiders have noticed that the continent is important and becoming more so, not least becauseof its growing share of the global population (by 2025 the UN predicts that there will be more Africans than Chinese people). Governments and businesses from all around the world are rushing to strengthen diplomatic, strategic and commercial ties. This creates vast opportunities. If Africa handles the new scramble wisely, the main winners will be Africans themselves.

中译：外界已经注意到非洲大陆的重要性，而且正变得越来越重要，尤其是因为它在全球人口中所占的比例越来越大(联合国预测，到2025年，非洲人口将超过中国)。世界各国政府和企业都急于加强同非洲国家在外交、战略和商业上的紧密联系。这创造了巨大的机会。如果非洲能明智地把握这场新的争夺，主要的赢家将是非洲人自己。

第一段后半部分论述了第三波“争夺”非洲浪潮兴起的原因，最后一句呼应了文章的副标题“This time, the winners could be Africans themselves.”后面段落分别使用不同的论据来论述作者的这个观点。

notice vt. 注意到；留心 “notice”有一个比较常用的短语take notice of…，“注意到；留意”。

同义替换是积累英语写作素材的一个很有效的方法，对我们理解词汇的用法也很有帮助。比如这里的“notice”，我们也可以用“realize”、“be aware of”、“find out”等单词或短语替换。

not least =especially 尤其是

例如：We were very impressed by the new school, not least its own swimming pool. 新学校给我们很好的印象，特别是它还有自己的游泳池。

strengthen /'strɛŋθn/ v. 加强；巩固；增强

handle /'hændl/ n. 把手；手柄 v. 处理；操作

tie是一个有多个含义的单词，比较常见的含义是“领带”。如：

I wear a shirt and tie at work. 我上班穿衬衫打领带。 除此之外，下列几个含义在外文期刊中也经常用到：

（1）n. [一般用复数] a strong relationship between people, groups, or countries.〔人、团体或国家之间的〕关系，联系。本文中就是用的这个含义。

（2）vt. to fasten something around, over etc something else and tie the ends together 把…系起来；固定搭配：tie sth around/over/under etc sth

例如：He had only a towel tied around his waist. 他只在腰间系了一条浴巾

（3）短语be tied to/by sth：被某事物束缚（约束，限制）

例如：Many women felt tied to the house. 很多妇女觉得自己被束缚在家里了。

The extent of foreign engagement is unprecedented. Start with diplomacy. From 2010 to 2016 more than 320 embassies were opened in Africa, probably the biggest embassy-building boom anywhere, ever. Turkey alone opened 26. Last year India announced it would open 18.

中译：外国参与的程度是前所未有的。从外交开始。从2010年到2016年，非洲新开了320多个大使馆，这可能是有史以来最大的一波使馆开设浪潮。仅土耳其就开设了26家。去年，印度宣布将开设18家。

这部分的关键词是“diplomacy”，作者首先从各国与非洲之间外交关系的强化，来论述各国对非洲的争夺。

extent /ɪk'stɛnt/ n. 程度；范围；长度。 短语 to the extent，“到…的程度”，例句：I asked my lawyers to the extent permitted by law to help those victims. 我要求我的律师在法律允许的范围内帮助那些受害者。

engagement /ɪn'ɡedʒmənt/ n. 订婚；约会；交战；参与度

unprecedented /ʌn'prɛsɪdɛntɪd/ adj. 空前的；史无前例的

start with 从…开始

embassy /'ɛmbəsi/ n. 大使馆；大使馆全体人员

boom /buːm/ 这个单词也是一个可以重点说说的单词，boom是拟声词，原意是“发出隆隆声”，后引申为“激增，暴涨；繁荣”，既可作名词也可作动词。比如有一个合成单词baby-boom，指“婴儿潮；生育高峰”。再看两个例句：

① After World War II, there were two things that, I think, contributed to the huge housing boom at that time.第二次世界大战后,我认为,那时房地产的巨大繁荣主要归结于两件事。

② Sales are booming. 销售量在激增。

Boom Shakalaka

Military ties are deepening, too. America and France are lending muscle and technology to the struggle against jihadism in theSahel. China is now the biggest arms seller to sub-Saharan Africa and has defence-technology ties with 45 countries. Russia has signed 19 military deals with African states since 2014. Oil-rich Arab states are building bases on the Horn of Africa and hiring African mercenaries.

中译：各国同非洲国家的军事关系也在不断深化。美国和法国正在为萨赫勒地区打击圣战主义的斗争提供力量和技术支援。中国现在是撒哈拉以南非洲地区最大的武器进口来源国，与45个国家建立了防务技术合作关系。自2014年以来，俄罗斯与非洲国家签署了19项军事协议。石油资源丰富的阿拉伯国家正在非洲之角建立基地，雇佣非洲雇佣兵。

military /'mɪlətɛri/ n. 军队；军人 adj. 军事的；军人的

deepen /'dipən/ v. 加深；深化

jihadism n. 圣战主义

Sahel 萨赫勒（阿拉伯语： ساحل‎，拉丁字母：sahil，意为“边缘”）。是非洲南部撒哈拉沙漠和中部苏丹草原地区之间的一条长超过3,800千米的地带，从西部大西洋伸延到东部非洲之角，横跨塞内加尔、毛里塔尼亚、马里、布基纳法索、尼日尔、尼日利亚、乍得、苏丹共和国和厄立特里亚9个国家。萨赫勒地区是世界上最贫瘠的地区，在1985年和1986年，萨赫勒地区有100多万人死于饥饿和疾病。该地区还是非洲大地上受到恐怖主义威胁最严重的地区之一。

mercenary /'mɝsənɛri/ n. 雇佣兵

Commercial ties are being upended. As recently as 2006 Africa’s three biggest trading partners were America, China and France, in that order. By 2018 it was China first, India second and America third (France was seventh). Over the same period Africa’s trade has more than trebled with Turkey and Indonesia, and more than quadrupled with Russia.

中译：商贸关系正在被颠覆。2006年，非洲最大的三个贸易伙伴依次是美国、中国和法国。到2018年，中国排名第一，印度第二，美国第三(法国第七)。同期，非洲与土耳其和印度尼西亚的贸易增长了两倍多，与俄罗斯的贸易增长了三倍多。

upend /ʌp'ɛnd/ vt. 倒放，颠倒

treble /'trɛbl/ vi. 变成三倍

quadruple /kwɑ'drupl/ vi. 成为四倍

Trade with the European Union has grown by a more modest 41%. The biggest sources of foreign direct investment are still firms from America, Britain and France, but Chinese ones, including state-backed outfits, are catching up, and investors from India and Singapore are eager to join the fray.

中译：与欧盟的贸易仅增长了41%。外国直接投资的最大来源仍然是来自美国、英国和法国的公司，但是中国的公司，包括政府支持的机构，正在迎头赶上，来自印度和新加坡的投资者也渴望加入这场竞争。

modest /'mɑdɪst/ adj. 谦虚的，谦逊的；适度的

firm /fɝm/ n. 公司；商号

state-backed 国家支持的

outfit /'aʊtfɪt/ n. 机构；用具；全套装备

catch up 赶上

be eager to do 渴望做

fray /fre/ n. 争论；打架；磨损

今天就到这儿了，我们下期再见。感谢阅读，希望能帮到你！

欢迎关注经济学人精选精读https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/zmawAgexMFLaNjbTk4Kdbg

加入我们，一起悦读地道英文！